ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Elder statesman, Edwin Clark, has called for the removal of Nyesom Wike from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ensure its survival.
In an open letter to acting National Chairman of the party, Iliya Damagun, Clark accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of using his ties with President Bola Tinubu to intimidate Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and undermine the party’s unity.
The leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) criticised Damagun for failing to act against Wike’s alleged anti-party activities and warned that the party’s future was at risk if the issues were not addressed promptly.
Clark said he could not stand by and allow the minister continue to hound the governor, noting that he was already a politician before Wike was born. He revealed he was writing a book, entitled: “PDP: To be or no to be,” stressing that after criticising former governors Bello Matawalle (Zamfara), Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) and Ben Ayade (Cross River) for defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the FCT minister is now ‘dancing naked’ with the same ruling party.
“After conceding that former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili, and his wife, made him what he is today and will forever remain grateful to them, he is now abusing them. I won’t allow him to destroy Rivers State,” Clark said.
He alleged that having failed to use the APC to disrupt the PDP, Wike is now using the party against itself.
The elder statesman highlighted the attempt to subvert the ongoing case against the defected Rivers State lawmakers at the Court of Appeal, accusing the party boss and the National Secretary, Sam Anyanwu, of pandering to the wishes of the FCT minister.
He said whereas the party’s national legal adviser was trying to diligently prosecute the case, the national chairman and the national secretary were allegedly sabotaging it.
Clark said: “Mr. Acting National Chairman, as a matter of fact, it is not just the national legal adviser of the PDP that is shocked about your actions; all well-meaning, reasonable, patriotic, faithful and honest party members, including many Nigerians, are equally shocked.
“The obvious anti-party activities of you and the national secretary, both of whom are obviously tools in the hands of Wike, used with all intention to bring down the government of Fubara, the Governor of Rivers State, as confessed by Wike himself during his recent outing at Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area, the local government of George Sekibo, is palpable.
“The recent actions of Wike before and during the last meeting of the party in April, shows clearly that he is all out to destabilise the smooth running of the Rivers State government; he is ready to use his closeness to Mr. President to insult, intimidate and harass members of the party, especially those in Rivers State, who have decided to toe the right paths of both the Constitution of Nigeria and the PDP constitution, and who, in fact, were the backbone of Wike’s government as governor of Rivers State, for eight years.”
Clark also asserted that by virtue of Section 109 of the constitution, the defected members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have ceased to be lawmakers, adding: “The Independent National Electoral Commission, has been properly informed about the defection of the members.
“Yet, you and your national secretary wrote a letter to the Court of Appeal with intention to aberrate that provision of the constitution.
“This is, in itself, is a crime against the state, and unbecoming of some one who is occupying an exalted position as the office of national chairman of a political party.”
Noting that Wike has continued to intimidate and insult party leaders, he said: “This is just Wike’s modus operandi, to try to cow and intimidate people to submission, to silence them, so that they will withdraw from a just cause, giving him room to display his high handedness, when he notices that he cannot buy such persons with money. “Wike’s arbitrariness knows no bounds. As a matter of fact, his actions and attitude has become unconstitutional. His desire to want to control Rivers State using ‘his structure’ is against Section 1 (2) of the 1999 Constitution.“
“As a lawyer and bencher, himself, Wike should know that he is breaching the constitution of the country and his party, the PDP.”
He said Wike’s shenanigans in Rivers State, “wanting to make it ungovernable for Fubara to function as duly elected governor of the state, because he (Wike), according to his words, does not want to lose his ‘political structure’ is a clear attempt to want to ‘take control of part’ of the country.”
Clark informed that he wrote the open letter to tell the party chairman that rather than set up a reconciliation committee, he should immediately set up a probe panel/committee to probe members like Wike, and if found guilty, to face the appropriate sanctions as prescribed by the party’s constitution.
“I urge you to also purge yourself of all malfeasance. As the acting national chairman of your party, you took your party’s NWC to court on the defection of 27 members of the state House of Assembly, that because they did leave the PDP properly, they are still members of the party, even after the 27 members had publicly declared that they have defected, and had already been received by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Your position Mr. Acting National Chairman is antithetical to the position of Section 109. You took your party’s NEC to court, an organ you preside over. Yet, you still have the presence of mind to remain in office, earning benefits that come with the office.
“From all indications, you are conniving with detractors of PDP to ruin the party, for APC. Allow Nigerians to decide what party they want through the ballot box.
“Stop colluding with Wike to destroy the party. A day of reckoning will come for all of man’s activities.
“I wish and pray that you will not sell your soul and conscience for pecuniary and worldly gains, otherwise you, Wike and your cohorts, will be consumed by the Rivers State crisis.”
